Franz Baumann (born 23 September 1953) is a German former United Nations official who, until the end of 2015, served as Assistant Secretary-General and United Nations Special Adviser on Environment and Peace Operations at the United Nations Secretariat in New York. From 2017 to 2021, he was a visiting research professor at New York University (Graduate School of Arts and Science, Program in International Relations [1] ) and is now an adjunct professor at Georgetown University in Washington D.C.
Baumann was born in Schramberg, where he received his Abitur in 1973 from Gymnasium Schramberg. He then studied social sciences and management at the University of Konstanz, specializing in international management, and in 1975 studied history of art at the University of Bristol, in the United Kingdom. He obtained his degree in public administration in 1979 from the University of Konstanz and went on to obtain a doctorate in political science in 1992 from Carleton University in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. His wife, Barbara Gibson, was a Canadian diplomat. She served from 2004 to 2008 as ambassador to the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe in Vienna, in 2015 as Deputy Secretary-General and in 2016 as Secretary-General of ICM, the Independent Commission on Multilateralism (ICM) in New York. [2]
Their daughter was born in 2000.
Baumann worked for the European Parliament in Luxembourg from 1976, in 1979 at the European Commission in Brussels and in 1980 for Siemens in Munich.
He began his career with the United Nations in 1980, serving from 1980 to 1982 as an associate expert in Nigeria for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO). He then worked in various departments at the United Nations Secretariat, including those of management and peacekeeping, and in the Office of the Secretary-General. In 1993 he was chief administrative officer of the joint United Nations/Organization of American States Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Haiti (MICIVIH).
In 2002 he was appointed director for management of the United Nations Office at Vienna (UNOV), in 2004 deputy director-general of UNOV, in 2006 deputy executive director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and in 2007 acting director of the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA).
In 2009 he was appointed assistant secretary-general for General Assembly and conference management at the United Nations Secretariat. [3] In September 2014 he became senior deployment coordinator for Umoja, an enterprise resource planning system. [4] and in September 2015 special advisor on environment and peace operations.
He is the President of the Academic Council on the United Nations System, [5] an Executive Editor of Environment: Science and Policy for Sustainable Development and a member of the Board of Advisers of the Centre for United Nations Studies at the University of Buckingham (England). [6]
The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is responsible for coordinating responses to environmental issues within the United Nations system. It was established by Maurice Strong, its first director, after the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment in Stockholm in June 1972. Its mandate is to provide leadership, deliver science and develop solutions on a wide range of issues, including climate change, the management of marine and terrestrial ecosystems, and green economic development. The organization also develops international environmental agreements; publishes and promotes environmental science and helps national governments achieve environmental targets.
The United Nations Economic Commission for Europe is one of the five regional commissions under the jurisdiction of the United Nations Economic and Social Council. It was established in order to promote economic cooperation and integration among its member states.
The United Nations Secretariat is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN), The secretariat is the UN's executive arm. The secretariat has an important role in setting the agenda for the deliberative and decision-making bodies of the UN, and the implementation of the decision of these bodies. The secretary-general, who is appointed by the General Assembly, is the head of the secretariat.
The United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) is a dedicated training arm of the United Nations system. UNITAR provides training and capacity development activities to assist mainly developing countries with special attention to Least Developed Countries (LDCs), Small Island Developing States (SIDS) and other groups and communities who are most vulnerable, including those in conflict situations.
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Antonio Maria Costa is an Italian economist. He lives in Vienna and Brussels.
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The Academic Council on the United Nations System (ACUNS) is a professional association of scholars, practitioners, institutions, and individuals active in the work and study of the UN. ACUNS stimulates and supports dialogue and research about issues of global concern and international cooperation.
The United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) is a United Nations agency dedicated to implementing humanitarian and development projects for the United Nations System, international financial institutions, governments and other partners around the world, with a focus on infrastructure, procurement and project management The organization's global headquarters is located at the UN City campus in Copenhagen, Denmark. UNOPS delivers around $3 billion worth of development projects for its partners every year. Its activities have ranged from managing the construction of schools in Afghanistan, to building shelters in Haiti, to procuring ambulances to support the Ebola response in Liberia.
Srgjan Kerim is a Macedonian diplomat, economist, former Foreign Minister and President of the 62nd Session of the United Nations General Assembly. His term of office began on September 18, 2007 and ended on September 16, 2008. He is of Macedonian Turkish descent.
The Otto Hahn Peace Medal in Gold is named after the German nuclear chemist and 1944 Nobel Laureate Otto Hahn, an honorary citizen of Berlin.
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An international organization, also known as an intergovernmental organization or an international institution, is an organization that is established by a treaty or other type of instrument governed by international law and possesses its own legal personality, such as the United Nations, the World Health Organization, International Union for Conservation of Nature, and BRICS. International organizations are composed of primarily member states, but may also include other entities, such as other international organizations, firms, and nongovernmental organizations. Additionally, entities may hold observer status.
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Jonathan Lucas was a former United Nations civil servant. He was appointed Secretary of the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) in 2010 in replacement of Koli Kouame.
Güenther Wilhelm van Well was a German diplomat, Secretary of State from 1977 to 1981, and West German Ambassador to the United States from 1984 to 1987.
Sukehiro Hasegawa is a Japanese academic, educator, author and administrator. He served as the Special Representative of the Secretary-General of the United Nations for Timor-Leste and head of peacekeeping and peacebuilding missions, UNMISET, UNOTIL and UNMIT from May 2004 to September 2006. He is currently the President of the Global Peacebuidling Association of Japan, the ACUNS Liaison Officer in Tokyo, the Chair of the Hiroshima Peacebuilders Center (HPC) Council and the Personal Advisor to former president and Prime Minister José Ramos-Horta of Timor-Leste.
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The post of Special Rapporteur on Minorities has been created as minorities in all regions of the world are exposed to serious threats, discrimination and racism and are often excluded from participation in economic, political and social life. It shall provide for the implementation of the Declaration on the Rights of Members of National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities, taking into account existing international norms and national minority laws.
